1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus to remove and collect ferrous particles from a fluid for ferrous particle analysis. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus to remove ferrous particles that will operate in conjunction with various contaminant measurement devices and particle counters.
2. Prior Art
Analysis of the fluid in a fluid system is important in recognizing the symptoms of impending machine failure.
The presence of excessive amounts of wear and cavitation debris in a fluid system are tell-tale signs of an impending component failure. Maintenance should ideally be scheduled before harm to other components and catastrophic failure results. Predictive maintenance or condition monitoring is, then, a way to achieve cost savings on equipment and labor expenses.
There are numerous ways to determine solid particle contamination in a fluid system although many of these determine total solid contamination which includes dirt, dust and other debris. It is often desirable to determine the size, the number, and the composition of ferrous particles in the fluid system.
The traditional ways to evaluate the presence of wear metal are by spectrographic elemental analysis, ferrographic analysis, and various magnetic concentration detectors.
In ferrography, ferrous particles are magnetically deposited on a laboratory slide and viewed under a microscope. Analytical ferrography can be useful as a supplemental tool to localize faults and interpret wear processes.
Spectrographic analysis can be used to establish and quantify the presence of wear metals and additives in fluids. This may be accomplished through atomic emission, atomic absorption, or inductive coupled plasma spectrometry. The technique is limited in its ability to count and size particles and is unable to access elements from particles larger than 8 microns.
Magnetic concentration detectors use a magnetic technique to estimate ferrous levels as a density (for example, ppm, or umg/ml) but are unable to count and size ferrous particles.
There remains a need to provide a device and a method for determining the ferrous particle contamination in the field and laboratory specifically as a measure of count and size.
It is additionally advantageous to provide a method and apparatus to determine ferrous particle contamination in a fluid by probing on or connecting to a fluid system.
It is additionally advantageous to provide a method and apparatus to determine ferrous particle contamination that will operate in conjunction with various solid contamination measurement devices and particle counters.
It is also advantageous to provide a method and an apparatus to determine ferrous particle contamination in-line in a fluid system.
It is, therefore, a principal object and purpose of the present invention to determine ferrous particle sizes and counts in a fluid.
It is an additional object and purpose of the present invention to dynamically determine ferrous particle sizes and counts in a fluid in the field.
It is a further object and purpose of the present invention to determine ferrous particle sizes and counts in-line in a fluid system.
It is a further object and purpose of the present invention to remove and collect ferrous particles from a fluid in order to perform ferrous particle analysis.
It is a further object and purpose of the present invention to remove and collect ferrous particles for ferrography in conjunction with other contamination measurement devices and operations.
It is a further object and purpose of the present invention to provide a portable apparatus and procedure to remove ferrous particles from a fluid system and deposit on a slide or screen while in the field.